Western Pomerania
Western Pomerania
Vorpommern, Pomorze Przednie | |
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UTC+2 (CEST ) |
Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania,[1][2] Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (German: Vorpommern; Polish: Pomorze Przednie), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania forming the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, located mostly in north-eastern Germany, with a small portion in north-western Poland.
Western Pomerania's boundaries have changed through the centuries as it belonged to various countries such as Poland, the Duchy of Pomerania (later part of the Holy Roman Empire), Denmark, Sweden, as well as Prussia which incorporated it as the Province of Pomerania.
Today, the region embraces the whole area of
German Western Pomerania had a population of about 470,000 in 2012 (districts of Vorpommern-Rügen and Vorpommern-Greifswald combined) – while the Polish districts of the region had a population of about 520,000 in 2012 (cities of Szczecin, Świnoujście and Police County combined). So overall, about 1 million people live in the historical region of Western Pomerania today.
Terminology
The German
The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more, which means "land by the sea".[3] The adjective for the region is (Western) Pomeranian (German: pommersch, Polish: pomorski), inhabitants are called (Western) Pomeranians (German: Pommern, Polish: Pomorzanie). The Polish names for the historical region, Pomorze Zachodnie (Western Pomerania) or Pomorze Nadodrzańskie (Oder Pomerania), have usually been applied to the entire narrower Pomerania, including Farther Pomerania, but excluding Pomerelia. In the narrower sense, the designation may also refer to the western part of the area only, alternatively called for precision Pomorze Szczecińskie (Szczecin Pomerania), encompassing the entire German Pomerania combined with the Polish part of the historical Middle Pomerania up to Rega. In such case, the remainder of Farther Pomerania is called Pomorze Środkowe (contemporary Middle Pomerania) or Pomorze Koszalińsko-Słupskie (Koszalin-Słupsk Pomerania)
As a further complication, the borders of the eponymous administrative units have been drawn disregarding mostly the historical ones. The Polish unit called województwo zachodniopomorskie (West Pomeranian Voivodeship) includes the whole Polish part of Hither Pomerania, but only the western two-thirds of Farther Pomerania, with the remaining easternmost one-third (Słupsk, Ustka, Miastko) forming a part of the neighbouring województwo pomorskie (Pomeranian Voivodeship). On the other hand, it stretches far more south than the historical region, to include the northern part of the historical Neumark (Dębno, Chojna, Trzcińsko-Zdrój, Myślibórz, Nowogródek Pomorski, Lipiany, Barlinek, Pełczyce, Suchań, Choszczno, Recz, Drawno), as well as a strip the historical Greater Poland (Tuczno, Człopa, Mirosławiec, Wałcz, Czaplinek), or even a small part of Pomerelia (Biały Bór). As a consequence, the common understanding of the term West Pomerania has recently started to shift towards this current administrative extent. Similarly, borders of the German districts Vorpommern-Rügen and Vorpommern-Greifswald deviate from the historical ones in numerous locations.
The name Pomorze Przednie, Przedpomorze – corresponding to Hither/Fore Pomerania German: Vorpommern – is nowadays used in Polish almost exclusively when referring to the part located in Germany, while its usage in the full (historical German) meaning is limited to exact translations of German texts. It is also referred to as Pomorze Wołogoskie (Wolgast Pomerania).
Geography
The major feature of Western Pomerania is its long Baltic Sea and lagoons coastline. Typical is a distinct "double coast", whereby offshore islands separate lagoons (so-called bodden) from the open sea, forming a unique landscape. The islands Kirr, Hiddensee, Ummanz, Dänholm, Rügen, Öhe, Riems, Vilm, Greifswalder Oie, Usedom, Karsibór and Wolin, as well as the islands of the city of Szczecin are located in Western Pomerania.
The largest city in Western Pomerania is Szczecin on the Polish side and Stralsund on the German side. Today it is still an important town economically. The towns of Stralsund and Greifswald together, after Rostock, are the second largest centres of population in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In addition the region has the highest population density of the four planning regions in the state.
Western Pomerania has several national parks:
- Jasmund National Park
- West Pomeranian Lagoon Area National Park
- Wolin National Park
Another region in Western Pomerania under extensive conservation protection is the Peene Valley.
Administrative subdivisions
German Vorpommern is understood today as comprising the islands of Rügen and Usedom and the nearby mainland, roughly matching the administrative districts of Vorpommern-Rügen and Vorpommern-Greifswald, though those districts' boundaries with Mecklenburg proper do not match the pre-1945 demarcation.
The region is mentioned in the
The Polish part encompasses the cities with powiat rights of Szczecin and Świnoujscie, the entire Police County, Gmina Goleniów in Goleniów County, as well as the part of Kamień County located on the island of Wolin (Gmina Międzyzdroje, western part of Gmina Wolin and western part of Gmina Dziwnów).
Cities and towns
There are four cities in the region, namely
You can sort this complete table of cities and towns by clicking one of the upper columns. The list does not include the former town of Dąbie, which currently is a neighbourhood of Szczecin; it also does not include the Brandenburgian city of Schwedt whose parts located north of Wesel, acquired in contemporary times, belong to historic Western Pomerania.
Town or (bold) city in Germany/Poland |
Coat of Arms | District of | first mentioned | Town privileges | Area in km2 | Population at 31 December 2013[4] | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Szczecin | city with powiat rights | 1243 | 301.30 | 408105 | |||
Hanseatic City of Stralsund | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1234 | 1234 | 38.97 | 59363 | ||
Hanseatic and University City of Greifswald | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1241 | 1250 | 50.50 | 59691 | ||
Świnoujście | city with powiat rights | 1765 | 197.23 | 41371 | |||
Police | Police County | 1243 | 1260 | 36.84 | 33625 | ||
Goleniów | Goleniów County | 1220 | 1268 | 11.74 | 22776 | ||
Bergen auf Rügen | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1314 | 1613 | 51.42 | 13689 | ||
Anklam | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1243 | 1264 | 56.57 | 12312 | ||
Wolgast | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1123 | 1257 | 61.52 | 12055 | ||
Demmin | Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
|
1070 | 1236[5] | 81.56 | 10395 | ||
Pasewalk | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1121 | 1251[6] | 54.99 | 9811 | ||
Grimmen | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1267 | 1287 | 50.29 | 9586 | ||
Sassnitz | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1906[7] | 1957 | 46.45 | 9199 | ||
Torgelow | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1281 | 1945 | 49.46 | 9307 | ||
Ueckermünde | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1178 | 1260 | 84.69 | 8598 | ||
Barth | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1255 | 1255 | 40.83 | 8777 | ||
Międzyzdroje | Kamień County | 15th century | 1945 | 4.51 | 5425 | ||
Altentreptow | Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
|
1245 | 1282 | 52.83 | 5263 | ||
Wolin | Kamień County | 966 | 1267 | 14.41 | 4999 | ||
Eggesin | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1216 | 1966 | 88.01 | 4748 | ||
Loitz | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1242 | 1242 | 89.53 | 4262 | ||
Putbus | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1810 | 1810 | 66.60 | 4531 | ||
Ribnitz-Damgarten (Damgarten only) | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1258 (Damgarten) | 15721 (both parts, 2013) 3289 (Damgarten, 2018[8]) |
||||
Jarmen | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1269 | 1720 | 30.64 | 2914 | ||
Gützkow | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1301 | 1353 | 42.68 | 2974 | ||
Tribsees | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1136 | 1285 | 54.75 | 2669 | ||
Gartz | Uckermark
|
1124 | 1249 | 61.69 | 2508 (2019) | ||
Garz/Rügen
|
Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1207 | 1319 | 65.44 | 2264 | ||
Penkun | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1240 | 1284 | 78.64 | 1815 | ||
Usedom | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1124 | 1298 | 38.54 | 1725 | ||
Lassan | Vorpommern-Greifswald
|
1136 | 1274 | 27.98 | 1491 | ||
Franzburg | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1231 | 1587 | 15.19 | 1367 | ||
Richtenberg | Vorpommern-Rügen
|
1231 | 1535 | 15.62 | 1351 | ||
Nowe Warpno | Police County | 1184 | 1295 | 24.51 | 1231 | ||
Dziwnów (Dziwna left-bank neighbourhood only) |
Kamień County | 1243 | 2004 | 4.07 (entire town) 3.04 (Dziwna) |
2137 (entire town, 2013) 669 (Dziwna, 2001) |
Economy
Popular tourist resorts can be found all along the
Away from the coastal tourist resorts, the rural areas of Western Pomerania have often maintained an agricultural character. A study published on 18 May 2009 revealed that the wealth situation of people in Vorpommern is on a mean range in Germany, with 27% of the population regarded as indigent – that is living with below 60% of an average German income.[9]
History
Era before 1121
In prehistoric times, the area was inhabited by
in the 5th century.By the 6th and 7th century,
In this era, large mixed
At the beginning of the second millennium, western Pomeranian tribes were surrounded by the expanding states of Denmark in the North,
Duchy of Pomerania (1121/81–1637) and Principality of Rügen (1168–1325)
In spite of his surrender or even with military help from the succeeding Poles, the
Wartislaw's aim was not only the expansion of his duchy, but also the spread of the Christian faith. In 1124, he invited
The 1147 Wendish Crusade initiated by the Holy Roman Empire ended when the Demmin and Stettin citizens persuaded the crusaders that they were already Christians.
By the middle of the 12th century, the Principality of Rügen in northwestern Pomerania remained the last pagan state in Central Europe. In 1168, a Danish fleet led by Roskilde archbishop Absalon sacked Rügen. The Arkona temple was sieged and destroyed. After this main temple's fall, Rügen's capitol Charenza (Venzer Burgwall) capitulated, all other temples were given to the Danes for destruction and Jaromar I, Prince of Rügen became a Danish vassal. The Rani then converted to Christianity.
From Rügen, which still had a strong navy and army, the Danish put pressure on Pomerania. Bogislaw I duke of Pomerania made his duchy a part of the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) in 1181, after he had allied with Henry the Lion since 1164. But the new alliance did not prevent the Danes from successfully raiding and in 1186 conquering all of Pomerania. Danish rule ended when in 1227 the Danish navy was defeated in Bornhöved by the Germans, Pomerania except for Rügen (until 1345 with the last Rugian duke's death) fell to the HRE.
Colonization and German settlement (since the 12th century)
The Rügen and Pomerania dukes called in many German settlers and aristocrats to resettle parts of their duchies devastated in the wars before and to settle new areas by turning woodland into fields. Settlers came from North German Lower Saxony. Some settlers from the
From that time onwards, the region shares a common history with Farther Pomerania.
Swedish (1630/48–1720/1815) and Prussian province (1720/1815–1945)
Pomerania came under Swedish military control in 1630 during the Thirty Years' War. Swedish sovereignty over Vorpommern, including Stettin, was confirmed by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the Treaty of Stettin (1653), and from that time onwards much of the region formed Swedish Pomerania. Possession of this region remained an issue of conflict in European politics and Swedish rule was a period marked by the ravages of warfare.
A part of the region south of the
From 1815, all of Western Pomerania was integrated into the
Postwar period 1945-1990
At the end of World War II in 1945, a small area of Vorpommern including Szczecin – the region's principal city – and Świnoujście was transferred along with Farther Pomerania to Poland, and formed part of the Szczecin Voivodeship.
The bulk of Vorpommern became part of the newly constituted Land (state) of
Contemporary: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg and West Pomeranian Voivodeship
The 1945–1952 state was reconstituted, with minor border adjustments, as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at the time of German reunification in 1990. Vorpommern is a constitutional region of the state, yet not an administrative entity.
After the administrative reforms of September 2011, the bulk of Western Pomerania is within the districts of
Since the administrative reform of 1999, the Polish part is located within the West Pomeranian Voivodeship and encompasses the cities with powiat rights Szczecin and Świnoujście, the Police County, the part of Kamień County located on the island of Wolin (Gmina Międzyzdroje, western part of Gmina Wolin including the town, and western part of Gmina Dziwnów), as well as Gmina Goleniów in Goleniów County.
See also
- List of towns in Vorpommern
- List of Pomeranian duchies and dukes
- West Pomeranian dialect
References
- ^ "Vorpommern (region), Pomerania, Prussia, German Empire Genealogy". FamilySearch Wiki. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ "Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - State Of Thousand Lakes". Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ Der Name Pommern (po more) ist slawischer Herkunft und bedeutet so viel wie "Land am Meer". (Pommersches Landesmuseum, German)
- ^ MV Stats: Census results
- ^ Town privileges given between 1236 and 1249
- ^ unsettled date, definite town privileges at 1276
- ^ merging of the fishing villages Saßnitz and Crampas
- ^ Einwohnerzahlen vom 31. Dezember 2018 nach Auskunft des Einwohnermeldeamtes
- ^ Stern, 18 May 2009 [1]
- ^ H. J. Janzen, History of Pomerania (in German)
- ^ No author, timeline of state history